GENEVA (AP) — Two little words from Crystal Palace fans on their mid-season journey in the Conference League before they finally shared a stadium with an unamused UEFA leadership.
The chant was often heard at Palace matches and led to several UEFA disciplinary proceedings, with Palace’s lawyers citing the European Convention on Human Rights. Fans are free to express satirical comments.
The second word is “UEFA” and the first word is an expletive. UEFA said this was “not humorous or satirical, but a serious insult”.
The frenzied fight between fans resulted in Palace being forced to pay tens of thousands of euros ($) in fines imposed by UEFA-appointed internal judiciary judges.
The chant could be broadcast again on Wednesday in Leipzig, when Palace face Rayo Vallecano in the final of a competition they did not qualify for. and never wanted to play.
Why do Crystal Palace fans hate UEFA?
It was a complex story that spanned the entire offseason a year ago, with cameos from two American billionaires, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson.
when Palace beat Manchester City Last May, they won the FA Cup final for the first time in the club’s 120-year history. They also qualified directly for the Europa League, UEFA’s second division club competition below the Champions League.
At least that’s how it was until Palace. Lost a legal dispute at the Court of Arbitration for Sport That’s all UEFA rules designed to protect integrity By preventing two teams that share ownership from participating in the same contest.
John Texter, then minority owner of the Palace — American businessman vivid history owned brazilian club, Belgium France also owns Lyon, who qualified for the Europa League as the sixth-place team in the French league.
Palace almost got saved by Lyon Initially relegated to League 2 Because of the financial crisis. Texter resigned from Lyon, who was succeeded by Lyon. Michelle Kang, women’s soccer investor and Returned to Ligue 1.
UEFA then issued a ruling Texter had a “decisive influence” at Palace (an important test under the multi-club ownership rules), but Palace were subsequently relegated to the Third Division Conference League and separated from Lyon.
facts texter He sold his Palace shares to Johnson. Before the team kicked the ball in its European debut, it was too late to have an impact on the incident. Resolved at the highest court in the sports world Located in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“UEFA Mafia”
Palace fans started the season in August wearing flags and T-shirts bearing the ‘UEFA Mafia’ logo. Wembley Stadium vs Premier League winners Liverpool and a conference league qualifying playoff against Fredrikstad.
UEFA fined Palace 10,000 euros (approximately 1.16 million yen) for “sending messages inappropriate for a sporting event” and “bringing UEFA into disrepute.”
When Palace began the main phase of the Conference League in October with an away match against Dynamo Kyiv in neutral Poland, UEFA officials heard swearing five times during the match. In addition, a fine of 10,000 euros.
In a disciplinary verdict released by UEFA, Palace lawyers argued the chants should be interpreted as an “innocent, satirical outburst”. They pointed to a similar case that Norwegian club Blanc won in CAS last year.
A UEFA judge said the F-word had “no place” in football, adding: “Such language is neither humor nor satire, but a serious insult.”
Blasphemy and freedom of speech
More chants and a 15,000 euro (about $17,500) fine were imposed after Palace’s game at Irish club Shelbourne in December.
Palace’s lawyers argued at the time that a “reasonable onlooker” would consider the profanity to be part of European football culture and would understand the “scorching criticism of UEFA” given the pre-season dispute decided by CAS.
UEFA’s appeal judges agreed with the football body’s view that the European Convention on Human Rights “primarily governs the conduct of public authorities and does not directly apply to private bodies such as UEFA”.
In any case, UEFA judges ruled that Article 10 of the competition, which deals with freedom of expression, is “not absolute”, allowing “all forms of crude, insulting and abusive messages inside stadiums”.
the chant continues
The chants continued in the knockout matches against Zrinjski Mostar and AEK Larnaca, resulting in a fine of 20,000 euros ($23,300) each time, and a 25,000 euro ($29,000) fine after the semi-final match against Shakhtar Donetsk.
UEFA has never escalated its decision to close part of Palace’s home stadium, Selhurst Park, for European matches.
If Palace win the title on Wednesday, they will qualify directly for the next Europa League and will play at least eight more games to be monitored by UEFA disciplinary officers. If Palace lose, their European adventure will end.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
